4/25/14

X-Men #138 - John Byrne art & cover

John Byrne

X-Men v1 #138, 1980 - John Byrne's despondent (yet oddly colored) cover says it all: Cyclops decides to leave the X-men. On the opening splash, grief-stricken family members and teammates gather around Jean Grey's grave. Their funerary attire blends together in a black mass, its weight bearing down on the page. As hinted on the cover's background, the story recollects the history of the X-men from Cyclop's perspective. Their various adventures, trials, friends and foes are extensively covered from X-men #1 to the present day. Byrne does this admirably, without distracting from the narration. Just as the reader senses the end of an era, Kitty Pryde's arrival on the last page ushers in a new beginning This is number 30 of 35 X-men issues with Byrne art and/or covers.- - - - - - - - - -Byrne cover pencils (Terry Austin inks) = ***"Elegy" Byrne story pencils (Terry Austin inks) 18 pages = ***